Well, good morning to you all again. Delighted to be back with you and delighted to be starting
a new series. We are starting a new series this week that's going to kind of, we're starting
the Advent series a little early. So this is going to be a series that takes us into the
season of Advent all the way up to Christmas. And the series is going to cover a variety of things.
We're going to cover issues such as virtual church, race, sexuality, gender, marriage. We're
going to talk a little bit about abortion, birth control, Botox, a little bit about beauty treatments,
plastic surgery, a bit on pornography, eating disorders are going to go in there, vaccine
mandates, mental illness, dementia, yoga, tattoos, cloning is going to make it in there, cremation,
chronic pain, aging, diet, exercise, got to have those, transhumanist technology, and a bit on death.
So we're going to cover a few topics over the next few weeks.
Debra's agreed to allow me to double the length of my sermons, which I'm really excited about. It's
been a battle we have fought ever since you joined the team. For the sake of time, actually, we're going
to hit on all these topics by focusing on the one thing that all of these topics share in common, the
kind of underlying issue that directly impacts how we think about all of these issues, which is the
issue of embodiment. Embodiment. What does it mean that we have physical bodies? What do our bodies
have to say about what it means to be human? What do our bodies have to tell us about who we are,
why we're here, where we're going? What do our bodies have to say about what it means to be human
beings? Are they secondary or are they central to our identities? These are the questions that we're
going to be exploring. What we're going to see, hopefully, is that what you believe about your body,
what you believe about your body, actually is going to determine how you think about all of the issues
that I listed a moment ago and many, many others. So this is going to be our focus for the next six weeks.
The title of this series is, This is My Body. And those are very powerful words. That's a very powerful
statement. This is my body. And so this morning I thought a series like this really needs a full sermon to
introduce it so that we're really clear on what we're talking about. And I started thinking about this phrase,
This is my body. And I started thinking how evocative that is and how it can really change meaning depending on
who is saying it, what their emphasis is, how they say it. And so by way of introduction to the series,
we're going to look at four ways that this phrase can be uttered and how from one to the next,
the meaning changes depending on the speaker and on the emphasis. And we're going to use these passages
that we just read from John 1 and 1 Corinthians 11 as our guide as we begin to explore this topic
and sort of frame up what we're going to be doing over the course of the next six weeks.
So we're going to look at four ways this phrase can be used. This is my body. The first two are ways
that human beings use it amongst ourselves and to God. And then the second two are going to be ways
that God speaks this into the world and to us. So let's pray and then let's dive in. Lord, we thank you
for your word. And we thank you that it's more than just theory that you're the God who is in the midst
of your people. That Lord, you're here in fulfillment of a great and ancient promise that you would be a God
who dwells in the midst of your people. That unlike the idols who are deaf and dumb and mute, you speak.
We pray that you would speak to us this morning. That you would speak your word which never departs
and returns void but accomplishes all that you intend it to accomplish. We pray that you would do
that in us this morning. For your glory. We pray this in your son's holy name. Amen.
So first of all, this phrase can be a highly personal phrase.
This is my body. In other words, this is my body, not that body or that body or that body.
But this alone is my body. Let me ask you a personal question. Next time that you are in the bathroom,
if you were to stand in front of the mirror and simply, you know, full-length mirror and simply look
at yourself and if you were to say, this is my body, how would you feel about that? Would you say,
this is my body? Or would you say, this is my body? How would you say it? What feelings would that evoke
in you? You know, this particular body is your body and you didn't get to choose this body for
yourself. God chose it for you. And like it or not, you're sort of stuck with it. This is your body.
But it's a very unique body. In fact, it's extraordinarily unique to you. From your fingerprints,
to your ear ridges, to the folds of your lips, to your irises, there has never been, nor will there
ever be, another body exactly like your body. You say, what about identical twins? Even identical
twins have different fingerprints. Your body is utterly unique to you. There's never been a body
like your body. Now, despite all of this, you would think that we would hear this and we would think,
my body is amazing. It's unique. It's never been anything like it. It's a one-of-a-kind,
handmade creation. Despite all of this, I think it's fair to say people have a complicated relationship
with their bodies, right? So, on the one hand, our bodies are ways that we experience being in the
world. Your whole experience of being in the world is made possible through your embodiment.
So, all of our five senses enable us to experience all kinds of sensations
in the world. And it's hard to imagine orienting ourselves in this world apart from those sensory
experiences. And they can be gateways to extraordinary joy and pleasure. Some of the greatest things in
life come through these senses. We can't imagine life without them. But I think our bodies can also
be sources of tremendous anxiety, depression, self-hatred, right? Some of us long to be skinnier,
as we look in that mirror. We long to be taller. We long to be prettier. We long to be stronger.
Some of us can't help but constantly compare our bodies to other people's bodies. I don't want a
body like this. I want a body like that. All right? Some of us have chronic pain or we have health issues,
autoimmune issues, and we sort of live life feeling like our own body has turned against us,
that our greatest enemy in life is our own body. Some of us are enslaved to bodily appetites.
We feel controlled by them. We can't beat them. Some of us, because of trauma, feel completely
disconnected from our bodies. We live in a state of dissociation, alienated from our own physicality.
Some of us are plagued by the nagging sense that we are somehow trapped in the wrong body altogether.
And the only solution is a different body.
So the words, this is my body, are very, very, very personal, complicated feelings. Lots of insecurity
arises around that phrase.
But at the same time that this is a personal phrase, these same words have also increasingly
become highly political. Highly political. This is my body. This is my body. One of the most
fundamental definitions of freedom in our society is the phrase my body, my choice. Now, some people use
that in defense of their desire to terminate a pregnancy. Some people use that in defense of
their desire to not take the vaccine. Either way, these, for many people, capture very essential ideas
around human freedom in our society. A free society is one in which I can say, my body, my choice.
It's an unassailable truth, according to most people in our culture.
And what we've seen over the last few centuries is how bodies can become sources of division and
injustice and oppression themselves. You know, we have this example in history, this horrible example
of post-enlightenment pseudoscientists needing to find a way to justify slavery and doing that by creating
the modern conception of race and claiming that lighter-skinned Europeans are inherently superior
to darker-skinned Africans. That was an argument based in physiology and perceived physiological
differences that enabled these scientists to create a kind of taxonomy where it was seen as beneficial
to inferior races to be governed and dominated by so-called superior races. I don't have to tell you
that that has done incalculable damage in our society and continues to the present day to do the same.
And in more recent history, bodies have come to occupy a central place in our entire political order.
These days in our society, it's very hard to imagine politics separated from the human body
and physiological differences. Karl Marx and Michel Foucault have argued and persuaded many in our society
that the body is a central point for analyzing the shape of power in a given society.
So you take characteristics like biological sex or sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression
or skin color or hair type or age or disability or weight or clothing size.
And many people would say that these determine where you fall in the power hierarchies of society.
Right? So these days, many people would say that your body either grants you privilege and access and power
or it relegates you to marginalization, oppression, even exploitation.
Your body does this.
So our bodies have, at the same time, a highly personal aspect to them.
It is this body and it's unique to you.
But they've also become highly political.
They're very personal and they're very political.
We can't imagine politics in society without talking about our bodies.
They're very central.
And I think it's fair to say if we look at all of this,
something is wrong in our relationship with our bodies.
Something somewhere went really wrong
and that our relationship with our bodies is, shall we say, disordered.
Right?
If you're an alien anthropologist looking in on our society from another planet,
studying us, trying to figure out if you want to reach out and make contact,
and you look at all of this,
you would probably think,
wow, there's something going on there.
There's something not right in their relationship with their bodies.
And, you know, the Bible would very much affirm that.
It would say it goes all the way back to the first book of the Bible,
the book of Genesis.
We see after human beings disobeyed God,
after they said to God,
from now on we're going to decide right and wrong for ourselves,
we're going to live in this world,
but we're going to essentially seek to become our own gods,
which was the nature of the fall.
What's the very first thing that happened after they made that decision
and their relationship with God was broken?
The very first thing that happened,
they began to experience shame about their bodies.
The very first symptom of a broken world
was that our relationship with our own embodiment got broken.
And what we see is this fundamental shift.
Instead of seeing our bodies as gifts to be celebrated,
our bodies became problems to be solved.
So for the first time,
human beings went about trying to solve the problem
of a body about which they felt shame.
And when you've cut yourself off from God,
you just have to rely on your own ability,
your own strength, right?
Your own capacity.
And so they turned to technology.
And for the first time in history,
human beings began using technology
to cover their bodies.
They sewed fig leaves together.
And ever since that day,
human beings have been developing
more and more advanced technologies
to cover, alter, enhance,
or altogether transform the bodies we have
into the bodies we want.
To solve the problem of the body.
And virtually every society we know of
throughout history
has used cosmetics and body modification technologies
to do just that.
You know, 7,000 years ago,
people were putting makeup on
to subtly alter their appearance.
Numerous religions grew up,
including all of the Gnostic traditions
and the Eastern traditions,
that denigrated the physical body,
that offered various ways
to either transcend or escape
the fleshly prison of our bodies
once and for all.
And as I say this,
I hope it sounds familiar
because the truth is,
is our society is no different.
We've taken these same things
and we've just pushed them
further and further and further, right?
Americans these days
spend something like
$16.5 billion
on plastic surgery every year.
$16.5 billion.
The fig leaf industry is booming.
It is booming.
And the leaves have become
a lot more expensive.
Many people just want to feel
a little younger
or a little more attractive.
We begin to see
the effects of aging on us
and we want to stave that off
as long as we possibly can.
A little nip, tuck, Botox injection
here and there
just to kind of tweak ourselves
so that we stay a little prettier
or a little more handsome
for a little longer.
Other people want
more significant alterations.
There's such a thing
as ethnic plastic surgery.
You may not know about this.
Maybe you do.
People of black or Hispanic
and especially Asian descent
using plastic surgery
to try to meet
Caucasian beauty standards.
In some parts of the world,
that's big business.
Sex and gender reassignment surgeries
are on the rise.
All the market projections
are showing that
that's a good industry
if you're wanting to make money
and you're in the medical field
to get into
because all the curves
are going up.
More and more people want it.
More and more people feel
that the sex of their body
does not match
their gender identity
and they want to align
their body
with the way they feel
on the inside.
And that takes a lot of surgery.
It's not just one,
but it's a whole process
and procedure
over years
to fully alter your body
in that way.
Likewise,
transhumanist technology
is on the rise.
These are all the various technologies
that enable us to enhance
or altogether transcend
the limits
of our physical body.
Now,
at one end,
we just have something like
Facebook's announcement
of the metaverse.
Right?
The great hope,
the great vision
of human flourishing
that Mark Zuckerberg
is preaching to the world
is that the metaverse
will allow us
to sort of be anything we want,
go anywhere,
experience anything we want,
that everything in the physical world
can be taken
into the digital world.
Interestingly,
he's referring to it
as an embodied internet,
but if you look at
what they're actually doing,
it's the exact opposite of that.
It's a disembodied experience.
On the one end,
we have that,
and then we have
all of these technologies
that allow us
to enhance
our physical bodies,
cybernetic enhancements.
This sounds like the stuff
out of a sci-fi movie,
but on the other end
of that spectrum,
you have more and more people
and people with a lot of money
and resources
working on ways
to either upload ourselves
into another body
or to upload ourselves
into some kind of a computer
that will enable us
to escape our bodies
once and for all,
finally leaving embodiment behind.
And many people hear this
and they think about
the disordered relationship
we have with our bodies
and all of the anxiety
and the depression
and the insecurity
and the chronic pain
and illness,
and they hear this
and they think,
well, that is good news
for the world.
Let's use technology
to escape the limitations
of our bodies
and solve the problem
once for all.
What we're going to see
in this series
beginning today
is that the gospel
offers something
infinitely better,
infinitely better news
for our bodies
because the gospel
doesn't promise
alteration of our bodies.
It doesn't promise
escape from our bodies
altogether.
As Paul says
in Romans chapter 8
verses 23,
the redemption of our bodies
is the goal of the gospel.
The redemption of our bodies,
a rightly ordered relationship
with our bodies
so that we no longer see them
as problems to be solved.
We began to see them again
as gifts to be received
and celebrated
and loved
because we're going
to have them
for a very, very,
very long time.
Spoiler alert,
we're going to have them
for a very long time.
So let me just give you
a sense of how the gospel
begins to do this.
Just a little tidbit here
for this morning.
How does God go about
doing this?
Through the words,
this is my body
used in two different ways.
The first is the incarnational.
This is my body.
Right in John chapter 1 verse 14,
And the word became flesh
and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
Through the incarnation,
God says to the world,
this is my body.
This is my body.
And the word,
as John uses it,
the word word
is the Greek word logos,
which is very rich
and multi-textured
in its meaning.
The word logos
is the intersection
of Greek and Hebrew thought.
Right?
The Greeks thought of the logos
as the ordering,
shaping principle
of the universe,
the sort of,
the principle
that holds all things together.
The Hebrews heard logos
and they went back to Genesis.
The word is how God
created the universe.
He created through his word.
And so if you take these ideas
and hold them together,
when John says logos,
here's what he means.
The being
through whom
all things were created
and by whom
all things hold together.
That's the logos.
And John says clearly
that the logos
became flesh.
And he deliberately
bypasses other words
that would have less emphasis
on the physicality
and he deliberately goes
to the word
that would be
the most physical
of all of the words
he could have used.
Sarx.
The emphasis
of that word
is on the physicality,
on the fleshy substance
itself.
The organizing principle
of the universe
through whom
all things were created
has become
squishy
flesh and bone.
That's what he's
emphasizing here.
Now this would have
absolutely
scandalized
the Greeks
because the Greeks
thought a lot
like we think.
They separated
the spiritual
and the physical
and they just
assumed
that the spiritual
was superior
to the physical
and so a lot
of their thought
revolved around
especially later
how to get out
of the constraints
of physicality
and transcend
the pure
spiritual plane.
So the idea
that something
that was spiritual
would choose
to become
physical
fleshy
sarx
that would have
been totally
scandalous
to them.
But John
is not just
saying that the word
took on the
appearance of flesh
because a lot
of them heard
this and they
thought
well maybe
what he means
is
that for a while
the Logos
looked like
a person.
Or maybe
for a while
Logos
took on
a body
kind of like
putting on
an overcoat
to kind of
do the thing
but at the end
of the day
when the mission
was done
took the body
off again.
A lot of Christians
to this day
think that.
But John
is saying no.
The word
didn't just
take on
the appearance
of flesh
or inhabit
a body
temporarily
Logos
became
sarx.
The word
became
ginomai
and the tense
that is used
here
conveys a
permanent change
in the nature
of something.
Something
that becomes
something new
that it
wasn't before.
And so
here's what
this means.
The God
of the universe
permanently
altered himself.
Permanently
altered himself.
The eternal
son
the Logos
became
flesh.
And to this
very moment
as we sit
here this
morning
is flesh.
There is a
body
a physical
body
sitting
at the
right
hand
of the
father
as we
speak
these
words
together.
Now this
has
extraordinary
implications.
I just
want to give
you a couple
before we
move on.
We're going
to say a lot
more about
this in the
weeks to
come.
But the
incarnation
means that
Jesus alone
can offer
us two
things that
we desperately
need when it
comes to our
relationship
with our
bodies.
Compassion
compassion
and direction.
Hebrews chapter
two
the author
of Hebrews
says he
meaning Jesus
became like
us in
every way.
The context
of that is
this.
What is he
saying?
Are you
struggling right
now?
God has
been there.
Are you
depressed?
Are you
fearful?
Are you
hungry?
Are you
in chronic
pain?
Are you
exhausted?
Are you
lonely?
He has
been there.
Do you
feel rejected?
Do you
feel marginalized?
Do you
feel mistreated?
Do you
feel overlooked?
He has
been there.
Are you
homeless?
Are you
friendless?
Are you
jobless?
Are you
poor?
He has
been there.
Jesus has
been there
more than
we know.
So when we
pray to God
and we are
struggling
within the
limitations
of our
finitude,
our
creatureliness,
our
fleshliness,
we are
longing to
escape all
of these
limitations,
when we are
crying out to
God, we are
crying out to
a God who
knows what it
is because he
voluntarily took
on those
limitations
himself and
experienced it
himself.
So he knows
how we feel.
So his
compassion is
real.
But then also
through the
incarnation, we're
given not just
someone who can
empathize with
us, but we're
given a
direction for
ourselves and
our own
bodies.
Because what
you see in
Jesus is
someone who
became flesh
and experienced
life in the
flesh, and yet
at the same
time he never
sinned.
He never gave
in to the
temptations that
come with life
in the flesh.
So Jesus not
only became a
human being, but
he shows us what
human beings were
meant to be, and
what we can one
day become through
his grace.
this is where we
get the phrase
that we'll talk
more about,
Christological
anthropology.
Essentially the
idea that we
can only ever
fully know what
it means to be a
human being by
looking at
Jesus.
That Jesus
shows us what
a true, fully
formed human
being looks
like.
And we can't
fully understand
what it means to
be a human being
until we have
seen true
humanity revealed
in him.
And what this
tells us is that
the aim of the
Christian gospel
is not just to
save us.
The aim of the
Christian gospel
and the Christian
life is to
become fully
human.
This is a
re-humanization
project.
Until, as it
says in 1 John
3 verse 2,
beloved, he
says, we are
God's children
now, and what
we will be has
not yet appeared.
You know, we're
becoming something.
We're not quite
sure what that's
going to be.
But we know, he
says, that when
he appears, meaning
Jesus, we shall
be like him.
That's how we're
going to know.
We'll recognize
him because it'll
be in some ways
like looking into
a mirror.
Now, that's an
amazing claim.
And this is made
possible because
Jesus didn't just
become a body,
become flesh,
but he offers
his body.
He offers his
flesh for the
sake of humanity,
which brings us
to the fourth and
final way that we
hear this phrase
spoken by God
to us, the
sacramental way.
Jesus sitting at
the table with
his most beloved
disciples, holding
out a piece of
bread and saying,
this is my body.
This is my body.
1 Corinthians 11
verse 23, for I
received from the
Lord what I also
delivered to you,
that the Lord Jesus
on the night when
he was betrayed
took bread, and
when he had given
thanks, he broke
it, and he said,
this is my body.
Jesus gave us this
meal of bread and
wine to be for us,
as we say, his body
and his blood.
And after instituting
this meal, he goes
on to show us the
full meaning of these
words when he goes
to the cross.
cross.
And on the cross, we
see his flesh being
torn.
We see his blood
being spilled in
order to make, as
the Hebrew would
indicate, to cut a
new covenant between
God and all the
peoples of the earth
that anyone and
everyone who comes in
faith and repentance
to Jesus can be
saved and restored.
And what we need to
understand in this
context is that this
is more than just a
time to remember
Jesus' sacrifice on
the cross.
As Paul says in the
previous chapter,
chapter 10, verse
16, he says,
the cup of blessing
that we bless, is it
not a participation in
the blood of Christ?
The bread that we
break, is it not a
participation in the
body of Christ?
What does that mean?
By eating and drinking
this meal, which by the
way, we can only do if
we have physical bodies.
You can't eat and drink
a meal if you don't have
a physical body.
By eating and drinking
this meal, the Holy
Spirit joins our
physical bodies with
Christ's physical body.
In that moment when you
are eating and receiving
this meal, in faith,
the Holy Spirit is
joining your physical
body to Christ's
physical body.
And in that moment, you
are participating in
his body and blood.
You are one with
him.
The word koinonia, you
have fellowship with
him.
In the most intimate
sense, you are one
physically with Christ
through the power of the
Holy Spirit.
We don't believe that
the bread changes into
flesh.
We don't believe that
the wine changes into
blood.
That arose in the days
of Thomas Aquinas and
the rise of the
scholastic movement,
which departed
platonic categories for
making sense of the
Eucharist, the great
tradition which had
lasted a thousand years.
And they began to use
Aristotle to try to
define more and more
and more precisely what
is actually happening
in this meal, in the
bread and in the wine.
We read this and we
say the call is to
receive this meal,
understanding that as
we receive it, in the
power of the Spirit, we
participate in the body
and blood of Jesus, just
as it says.
And we can only do this
if we have physical
bodies.
And in this meal, we
begin to see a glimpse of
God's future plan for us
and for the world and for
our bodies.
That the great hope of the
Christian gospel is not
that we might one day
shuffle off this mortal
coil and fly up to sit
on a cloud and play a
harp in heaven.
That the great hope of
the Christian gospel is
that the heavens and the
earth will come together
as one.
That the spiritual and
the physical will come
together as one.
Matter and spirit will
become one as God
always intended for it
to be.
What that means is that
the bodies that we have
now will be fully
restored and renewed.
And as Paul says in
1 Corinthians 15, the
best guarantee of this
is Jesus' body.
The fact that he was
physically raised shows
us that we will be one
day physically raised as
well.
We pray this every week
in the Lord's prayer.
This is the fulfillment of
our request, our desire,
that one day God's kingdom
would come and his will
would be done on earth as
it is in heaven.
So over the next few weeks
we're going to be exploring
many of the themes that
we've teed up here this
morning.
We're going to be touching
on them in more detail.
For now, I hope that it is
clear to you that when it
comes to your body and the
complicated relationship that
you have with your body,
there is no greater source of
hope in the world than the
Christian gospel.
It wouldn't be a sermon if
we didn't quote C.S.
Lewis.
Here's what he says on the
topic.
Just kidding.
Christianity is almost the
only one of the great
religions which thoroughly
approves of the body, which
believes that matter is
good, that God himself once
took on a human body, that
some kind of body is going
to be given to us even in
heaven and is going to be an
essential part of our
happiness, our beauty, and
our energy.
Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you for this.
And even now, as we prepare
to come to this table, we
simply ask that you would
take whatever of this is
from you, either to convict
us or comfort us that you
would do your work through
your word and the power of
your spirit.
And that as we come to this
table and as we receive
your body, that we might
experience a sense of
encouragement and hope as we
reflect on our own bodies
and the great and wonderful
plan that you have for them
and for us, for your glory
and your son's holy name.
Amen.